Deciphering cave painting code and ancient celestial map in South East Asia paleolithic cultures dated to 40000 years old

cave arts. The youngest cave art was about 9000 years ago and another one found in caves of Altamira, Abstract. Currently it was theoritized that cave paintings have meaning more than human and animal interactions. Based on an example from Lascaux cave, a figure of a bull is believed representing Taurus constellation together with the Pleiades. In here this study aims to assess the connections of paleolithic art works in the forms of cave paintings and zoomorphic figures resemble to bovid with possible ancient astronomy and constellation depictions in South East Asia. The study caves were Jeriji Saleh in Kalimantan and Leang Leang and Sumpang Bita caves in Sulawesi where ancient cave paintings and zoomorphic figures date to 40000 years old have been found. The results show that cave paintings in Jeriji Saleh, Leang Leang and Sumpang Bita caves were comparable to the current findings. Those paintings were having bovid like figures with Leang Leang has figure identified as extant Bubalus depressicornis. In Sumpang Bita, this species was depicted in pregnant condition similar to pregnant horse figure in Lascaux cave. Depiction of pregnant figures in cave paintings indicates the use of ancient calendar to determine season based on the animal mating season. Bovid figure in Jeriji Saleh was illustrated in the same posture like auroch bovid in Lascaux cave and this indicates that cave paintings in Jeriji Saleh have been used to visualize Taurus constellation. The postures of bovid paintings in Leang Leang were different and it is interpreted to visualize Capricorn constellation. Another significant similarity between Lascaux and Leang Leang caves can be seen in paintings depicting a shaft scene with the presences of 3 similar figures include dying man, speared bovid and small zoomorphic figures. This concludes that the caves with their wall painting were not merely functioned as media for ancient art works, whereas it has functioned as paleolithic planetarium and this knowledge was globally widespread.

Lascaux and Niaux near the Pyrenees date to 12000-17000 years ago. The earliest cave paintings were created about 31000 years ago in Chauvet cave (Valladas et al. 2001).
Presences of paleolithic cave art works have also been reported in South East Asian regions (Tan 2014).
In mainland Southeast Asia regions, paleolithic cave art works have been reported in Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Malaysia, Vietnam and Singapore. While in archipelago South East Asia regions in Indonesia, paleolithic cave art works have been reported and found in several remotes places.
According to Kosasih (1991), those paleolithic art works were dated back to the epipalaeolithic period and continued through the neolithic period and even in some early metal-using periods. Those art works were distributed widely in Sumatra, Java, Borneo, Sulawesi, lesser Sundas and West Papua. Recent literatures argued that those paleolithic art works were representing human relations to the landscape (Sawatsalee 1998) include hunting activities (Higham and Thosarat 2012) and human connections with wildlife including catfish and elephants. In Indonesia, most paleolithic art works were also believed representing the human-wildlife connections in the forms of hunting. Whereas relatively little attention has been paid to other objects that those art work may represent. In here, this paper tries to assess the connections of those paleolithic art works in the forms of cave painting with possible ancient astronomy and constellation depictions.

2.Methodology
The study areas were located in 3 caves that indicate paleolithic occupancies. There were 2 caves located in South Sulawesi and another one was located in East Kalimantan. In South Sulawesi, those caves were located in Leang Leang and Sumpang Bita caves. In East Kalimantan the selected location was Jeriji Saleh cave.

Zoomorphic figures
The first study on cave painting in Leang Leang was done by van Heekeren (1957). It was first theoritized that those cave paintings with zoomorphic figures were representing the presence of Bubalus depressicornis, an endemic mammal or bovid species that still exist until now and living isolated in the rainforest near the cave. Other findings by Akin and Walena (2002) in Tinco and Lawo have confirmed zoomorphic figures representing a horned deer. Whereas close examination reveals that Figure 5. Bovid paintings in Lascaux cave (Congregado 1992;Rappenglück 1997Rappenglück , 2004 and in Jeriji Saleh cave both are visualizing Taurus constellation. Saleh perhaps was not intended to represent the existence of wildlife and its interaction with human ( Figure 3).

Constellations and paleolithic planetarium
In contrast to the conservative theory stated that the zoomorphic figures found in cave painting were merely representation of the existence animals. A recent study has hypothesized that those Then bovid B. depressicornis in Leang Leang was interpreted to visualize Capricorn constellation ( Figure   6).

Shaft scene
Another important drawing in Lascaux cave was known as a shaft scene. This scene depicted as a dying man near the pierced bovid apparently by a spear and seems to be dying. Near the dying man there was another small zoomorphic figure depicted as goose. This scene was also similar to the paintings found in Leang Leang as can be seen a dying man in the front of speared bovid (Figure 7).
There was also a small zoomorphic figure near the dying man. A younger similar shaft scene circa 10950 BC can be seen in Göbekli Tepe. According to Sweatman & Coombs (2018), the shaft scene was representing encounter with the Taurid meteor stream. Since Leang leang painting was older than Lascaux cave then the shaft scene represents the older meteor stream dated back to 40000 years ago.

4.Conclusion
Conservative theory still believes that cave paintings merely represent human animal interactions within hunting context. Given findings from the Lascaux cave, cave paintings have beyond interpretations. Likewise, this study is the first that has shed the light mainly in South East Asia that cave occupants already have and developed ancient vast astronomical knowledge.